"Dear BK, Bangkok is mapped as one of the gay-friendly cities and it tends to be like people describe. So, instead of saying old words like "Muang Thai, Muang Pudh" (Thailand is a Buddhist land), some may slightly change it to "Muang Thai, Muang Tood" (Thailand is the land of gay). By the way, in your latest issue about gays, you seems a bit (over) excited about how risky Thai gays are to infection with AIDS. It's good to talk about HIV and how to protect against it. But it is such a cliché for me to focus on AIDS along with gay folks as the main feature in the gay issue. I think gay people right now are no longer seen as close friends with this disease. They know how to handle and protect themselves. To be honest, I know you have the purest mind to warn Thai gay folks but concentrating on gay people, matched with HIV is like waking and stirring up the seemed-to-be-dead bias against gay people in this country in which gay is tolerated but not fully acceptable. As you know, AIDS is not only associated with gays but also straight or whatever genders you wear. I am not saying that AIDS can not be mentioned in the gay issue but featuring other aspect of Thai gay like the explosion of Thai gays’ identity, culture or the newly established Thai Queer Archive may spice up you gay issue and make it more interesting being a lifestyle magazine, not the abridged and simplified version of NGO reports. By the way, other stories about gays like interview and nightlife guide can give me a refreshing pause after reading your main feature."

Response:

Welcome to the land of "tood." In a country where gays aren't accepted, many gay men are still using derogatory words such as "tood" which is close to "dood" meaning ass, and the word gay supposedly encompassing the whole LGBT population, is unacceptable. Writing a cover story for the gay issue talking about a pertinent issue, and the reaction being that of anger, and why-dont-you-do-more-stories-about-gay-lifestyle when it has been done too many times, is ignorance. "Gay" is not a lifestyle, it is who you are. And the fact that we are still saying "tood" and "katoey" to encompass a diverse population is appaling. Yes, writing a story about HIV/AIDS linked to gay men will inflame biases, but the bigger crime is not talking about issues which matter, no matter how controversial or inaccurate the statistic is. Sadly we only have a few statistics and studies to go by, and we need more studies and accurate research to get the whole picture.  The fact is Thailand was heralded as the country that battled the HIV/AIDS epidemic with flying colors, but because of our honor, we now bring shame. Thailand is no longer getting enough funding for HIV/AIDS and the consequence is that the number is starting to creep up again, not only in the gay community, but also in the straight community. And the fact that we shouldn't talk about it because we would inflame bigotry, is a crime in itself. Lives are being lost because no one is talking about it. BK Magazine is one of the few publications willing to put ourselves out there to talk about a controversial issue. Spoken about with controversy and an open mind is journalism. We realized that such a story about HIV/AIDS among MSMS is dangerous but we would rather talk about it and save a couple of lives. Yes,  we welcome your mail, your arguments and disagreements, yes, we welcome the controversy,  because with discourse, the issue becomes alive and we get to talk about it and through it all, we will hopefully get some action. We have problems. No one talks about the gay community unless its about "lifestyle." It is "queer eye for the straight guy here", where the gay population only benefits the straight population by being non-threatening and non-sexual. But how about the straight population aiding in the voice of the "katoey" community, how about us all talking about the fact that HIV/AIDS is still rampant here within the gay community, how about us all uniting to save our brothers. Enough with  bigotry, ignorance, delusion, and the word "tood" wake up and smell the fact that our country is suffering because there is no dialogue.